Quote:
Originally Posted by Rupert
They also get to make a DX check to halve damage from falling on top of the automatic Acrobatics success. That's fairly important.
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That's helpful to make long falls survivable, but how often does that come up? If it's uncommon, the thief wasted 10 points on it. If it's common, the other characters that didn't get it is in deep trouble. If the GM puts only the thief in a situation it would be useful then picking the advantage only served to bring trouble.
Worse, just because it's survivable it doesn't mean it's useful. A DF Thief falling 17 yards (from the example on B431) would take 4d damage without Catfall and 2d with it, if his HP was full he might not die but he's likely to be reeling (perhaps with limbs crippled) and alone (if not, his mates might be making unconscious/death rolls). The points would have been better spent on other traits like Perfect Balance (to not fall) or Serendipity (to be saved in the last moment).
And what about cinematic/supernatural beings that simply doesn't take damage from a fall? Say a vampire or lycanthrope that can jump out of a tall building to escape. It would be shameful and anticlimatic if the fall crippled their legs. I've seem some complicated Flight builds on past threads but it feels very unnecessary when there's already an advantage that's all about enduring falls...